Studio Art: Candy Bar Triptych

Whew!  I'm finally starting to get things caught up on Artsonia, in my grade book, and on my blog!  It's been a New Year's resolution to keep on top of my grading this year, and so far so good!  These triptych drawings were the last thing students finished up right before our Christmas break.  It was also the final project in the drawing unit.

For this project, students had to bring in a candy bar (or similar type of food item) from home.  At this point, we had practiced with different drawing media in our sketchbooks, so students were allowed to draw with any medium they wanted.  The only stipulation was that one drawing had to be full (true) color, one had to be black and white, and the last could be done however they wanted.

On a side note, while we did these drawings, I used pop artist Wayne Thiebaud as their bell ringer artist in their sketchbooks, since the subject matter students were using was similar to his.

Most students stuck with drawing pencil, ebony pencil and colored pencil, but a few ventured into oil pastels as well.  We haven't actually framed these with mat board yet (I cheated and just photographed them on top of the mat board), but right before the art show, we are going to have a big mating day to frame artwork for the art show.  Students have mated two projects themselves so far, so they should be pros by the end of the year!

Studio Art: 2-D Media, Printmaking

Now that we have finished up the cubist superhero paintings, the last and final aspect of my 2nd unit in Studio Art is the printmaking portion.  For this unit, we are covering Andy Warhol, pop art, and reduction printing with linoblocks (I don't have all of the materials to do screen printing, nor am I as familiar with screen printing, otherwise I had considered doing screen printing like Andy Warhol).  This will probably be the last project I get completed with this class before my maternity leave.

My Studio Art bulletin board in the classroom.  

My example of a reduction print.  I did this during my student teaching with a printmaking class.

For the first two days, we have been working on planning out our pop art object print.  Students were required to bring in an object or photograph of a person/character from pop culture today.  (Some of the items that have been used are baseball caps, the bear from the movie Ted, a rubics cube, Minions, etc.

After students draw out and plan what their finished print will look like, I have them plan out each step of the reduction print process using tissue paper layers.  The first step is to make a print of their entire linoblock.  If there is anything they want to keep white for every print, they must carve it out first.

The second step is to carve away the area around the object so that you just have the contour of it.  

For this project, I am requiring that they have at least four colors/steps in their prints, like my Coca-Cola can.

Another example I did during my student teaching.  I created this and took a photo of every step to create a visual poster with directions.  This particular reduction print had six steps to it.

These are three student samples from my student teaching.  I did this with a printmaking class that had only 3 students.

Here are the close up shots of my visual poster that I had made.  Sorry for the bad photos...it was laminated and didn't photograph very well under the poor lighting at school.

Draw the design on the block, carve out anything that needs to stay white, and make your first print.

Carve out the area around your object...make your second print...

So, basically by the end, you have nothing left on your linoblock!

Currently the Studio classes are working on making their 10 background prints.  Those are due by the end of class today.  Tomorrow, we'll carve out the area around their object and I'll show them how to carefully line up their block with their first print to layer the second on top.  When finished, students will have to submit to me four of their best prints and eventually we will mat them (whether my maternity leave sub is comfortable teaching that or it waits until I return to school...)

Upper Level: Personal Art Criticism Worksheet

In my planning for next week, I had a moment of inspiration hit me.  As part of my 2-D media unit in Studio Art, one of the things I introduced students to were the art criticism steps.  We haven't really dived much into them as I plan diving into it more and more as the year progresses.  So far, we've taken the notes on it, done a full art criticism write-up together as a class about "Triple Self-Portrait" by Norman Rockwell, and we've done a bell ringer about it (they had to write a description about one of Monet's waterlily paintings) in their sketchbook.  Other than that, I have really kind of neglected the subject.  In lieu of that it came to me that maybe I should create an art criticism worksheet for them to fill out at the end of every project.  This will help reiterate the four art criticism steps AND they will be reflecting on their own artwork and how it fits the project objectives (hello Marzano!).  Oh yeah, and the writing aspect never hurts either (ahem, Common Core?).

So here is what this sheet is comprised of.  As usual, you can head over to the SmARTteacher website and download the file to use.

Art Criticism: Description

Write a credit line for your artwork:

Title: ___________________________________________________________________ (1 pt.)

Artist: __________________________________________________________________ (1 pt.)

Date: ___________________________________________________________________ (1 pt.)

Medium: ________________________________________________________________ (1 pt.)

Size: ____________________________________________________________________ (1 pt.)

What type of medium is your artwork (1 pt.)? (Circle the medium)

Drawing      Painting      Sculpture      Ceramics     Printmaking     Photography     Digital Media     Mixed Media

Art Criticism:  Analysis

Check the elements and principles you used in your artwork.  Describe where you used them. (10 pts.)

In this section, I have a checklist of the elements and principles for students to choose from.  They must check off which ones they used and explain how and where they used them.

Art Criticism: Interpretation

1.    What is the subject matter of your artwork? _____________________________________________ (1 pt.)

2.    What is the subject genre of your artwork (1 pt.)?  (Circle the genre)

Portrait       Landscape (Nature)      Still Life    History (Religious, cultural, etc.)     Genre (everyday life)

3.    Is your artwork based on the art of a famous artist?  ____________________________________ (1 pt.)

4.    What art style is your artwork created in? ______________________________________________ (1 pt.)

Is there any symbolism in your artwork?  (5 pts.) 

What is your artwork about? (5 pts.)

How does your artwork reflect the learning objectives given to you on the project rubric? (5 pts.)

Art Criticism: Reflection & Judgment

What are two (2) things you think you did really well on this project and why?  (5 pts.)

What is one (1) thing you’d like to improve/change about your artwork? How would you change it? (5 pts.)

Did you like this project assignment?  Why or why not?  (5 pts.) 

0…no experience  ~  3…somewhat confident  ~  5…could teach someone else

Experience level with this medium before project:                             0        1        2        3        4        5

Familiarity with subject/art style before project:                               0        1        2        3        4        5

How comfortable do you feel with this medium after the project?                 0        1        2        3        4          5

How familiar do you feel with the art subject/style after the project?    0        1        2        3        4        5

The last part where students need to rate themselves out of 5 is a really great way to incorporate that Marzano scale I use in the elementary.  Even in the high school end we are supposed to be asking students to show us daily how they feel they are doing on a project to check for understanding.  I have a really hard time with this because I know they wouldn't be serious about it if I asked them to "show me using your fingers" (or I'd get a bunch of obscene gestures!), so I think this will help them be a little more serious about reflecting on their projects.  

I plan to use this on Monday first thing.  Originally we were going to start the printmaking notes, but there are still handful of students who need to finish their superhero paintings, so this will be a good wrap-up for everyone as they finish their paintings.

Studio Art: Wrapped Food Drawing

For the final assignment of the drawing portion of the 2-D Media unit, students had to bring in a wrapped snack item to draw.  Similar to the shadow man project, I asked them to be creative with how they drew their object.  They could blow it up and draw a portion of it on the paper, draw it multiple times, etc.  Also, for this project, they were allowed to choose which 2-D medium they wanted to use for this.  Some elected to use regular pencil and ebony pencil, some chose colored pencils, some did a combination of all three.  The only medium no one decided to use was the oil pastels.  (You can see my note packet for this 2-D unit on the SmARTteacher.)

A few students still need a bit more time on Monday to finish these up, but after 3 1/2 days of working on this in class, here are some of the finished projects!

This particular student is full of natural talent.  Needless to say, her drawing was almost spot on, but I was a little disappointed!  On Thursday, she had asked me if she could rip a hole in the middle to make it look like a ripped wrapper, and then add crumbs inside the torn hole.  I simply told her I wouldn't every stop her from being creative like that and it sounded like it would be an awesome idea but then she never did it! :(

Now that we have finished up the first portion of the 2-D media unit, we're going to start on the next section which will be painting.  I was originally going to have the students paint their wrapped food item, but a lot of them ate their objects once they were done with their drawings! lol

So, Monday, the last few people will finish up their drawings and we'll talk about art styles.  In their notes, I created a section of 9 art styles and put examples of each style in the back.  We briefly started talking about art styles when we cut out the paintings and matched them with the correct style.  I was EXTREMELY happy to find that many of these 9th graders remembered some of the paintings that they had in the back of their packets.  (I had these students as 6th graders, my first year of teaching, and I had them do a group research project on an artist.)  We'll finish the notes on the art styles by giving each style a definition and discuss what style their wrapped food drawings fall into (hopefully they'll say pop art or realism, or both!).  We'll also frame these drawings too.

Tuesday I'll be giving them a brief quiz where they'll have to demonstrate they understand how to shade an object with a light source, they'll have to name the four shading techniques, and list some 2-D drawing media.

As we move onto the painting portion, I'm going to concentrate on acrylic paint, which is my favorite.  I've seen this particular pin on Pinterest and have LOVED the project idea, so I'll be incorporating it into this unit.  I plan on having the students draw out a simple still life of a book, bottle and fruit.  We'll shine the lights on them again, turn off the lights, and I'll teach the students how to paint with value directly on the canvas.  After that introductory project to the acrylic, we'll tackle Picasso's superheros.  I'm excited to do this project because I bought some acrylic modeling medium to use on the canvas boards to add texture, marbling and even, *gasp* glitter!  Depending on if they get bored or want to continue with painting, we'll also do some watercolor painting.

Studio Art: Shadow Men (2-D Media Unit)

This drawing assignment was a total improvise, but it's definitely one I plan on keeping for this unit in the future!  It seems amazing to me that the students (both older and younger) enjoy drawing from these mannequins so much!  It must be because they are movable!

After I looked over the student's #2 sketch assignment (which was to create a 3-object still life, shine a light on it, and draw it with value), I realized that they really didn't know how to properly observe light and shadow, and they didn't know how to properly utilize value in their drawings.  On a whim, I brought down six of my mannequins from the elementary room and we spent a period sketching one of them in our sketchbooks.  They really enjoyed it and asked if we could work on these more the next day, which gave me the idea for this sketch project.

Believe it or not, Friday was the end of the 5 week marking period already!  Art projects are worth 40% of their grade, and they have technically only completed one project, the elements of art infographic.  This was a great thing to do not only to teach them more about value, but also to increase that portion of their grade for the 5 week report card.

I brought in a second light and set up 3 mannequins at one table, and 3 at the other.  Their directions were that they need to have five mannequins drawn on their paper in some way, shape or form.  I wanted to see big, up-close versions, small, full body versions and the in-between.  We reviewed the elements and principles a bit and I reminded them to think about their composition as they positioned their figures. Students had three class periods to complete these drawings.

You can find the note packet I am using for this 2-D media unit, as well as the rubric for this project and the next drawing project on the SmARTteacher website.

Studio Art: Unit 2 Begins...2-D Media

My first unit lasted about as long as I had hoped it would, and on Friday we began our second unit.  Our second unit is all about 2-D media...drawing, painting and printmaking.  I am also combining art criticism with this unit.  The textbook I am using has art criticism as its own unit, but there is no way I'm going to spend an entire week or two just on art criticism...that's something we can work on over the school year to perfect, a little at a time.  The students have also been antsy to get started on a "real" art project.

The cover of my unit 2 note packet...stay tuned to the SmARTteacher website...my unit is posted there now!

On Friday, I introduced/reviewed value and the four common shading techniques with the students: hatching, cross-hatching, stippling and blending.  They had to practice in their notes and then for their second sketchbook assignment, I asked them to set up a 3-object still life at home, shine a light on it, and draw it using value.

This is the generic sketchbook assignment rubric I have created for the weekly sketch assignments.  Each student has now seen this and will have their Friday sketch assignments graded according to this rubric every Monday.  So far, I think I'm happy with it...but we'll see if I feel like I need to make any changes to it.

On Monday, we started off the unit by discussing the different drawing media that can be used (oil pastels, pencil, chalk, etc.) and we spoke briefly about art styles.  Again, this is something we will work on throughout the school year, but the projects we do for this unit are all going to fall under the realm of pop art, so I want students to have a basic knowledge of what pop art is compared to the other styles of art.

In the back of my packet, I put colored copies of these paintings.  We cut them out, and then one at a time, we talked about which style they thought these fell under.  Quite a few students new some of the more popular artworks here and knew the styles (although when I had them in 6th grade, they had to do a group research project on an artist...I found it quite wonderful that a lot of them retained the information!).

 Now, as I graded those sketch assignments on Monday, I realized that the students (a) didn't have a good idea of what I meant by set up a still life and (b) didn't know how to properly utilize value with observation skills.  Thus the reason why it's important to give sketch assignments as homework (a good way to assess prior knowledge!).  I threw out my original plans for the next few days and pulled out the mannequins I bought for the elementary room with past SmARTteacher winnings.  I set them up in the middle of the tables, let the students arrange them, turned the lights off and put a spot light on the figures.  I gave a brief demonstration of how they should quickly do a contour drawing of the figures and then demonstrated the proper way to observe value.

The students REALLY enjoyed doing this and asked if we could work on it again tomorrow...heck yes!

I found that they did okay observing the shadows and high lights, but they had a tendency to just give a dark and light value.  I went around to each student and asked if I could show them on their drawing how I wanted them to exaggerate what they saw and make more of a range of values, from black to white and everything in between.  Once they saw how much their drawings started to pop, they were really excited!

Tomorrow, I am going to give each student a large piece of drawing paper and an ebony pencil.  I envision having them do multiple drawings of the figures on one sheet of paper...a super huge close up of a figure that goes from top of the page to bottom...smaller figures that go off the page, etc.  Just a montage of mannequins!

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Once we move on from practicing the value (probably by Thursday or Friday this week), students will have to bring in a wrapped food item, such as a candy bar, and do a large, up-close black and white drawing of it.
As we move onto the painting aspect, students will learn about how paint is made and we will then use our candy bars and acrylic paint to do a pop art painting...I'm thinking more in the style of Claes Oldenburg.  I want them to incorporate some acrylic mediums that I bought to give their paintings texture.  This project will be a way for students to utilize the elements and principles to create an interesting composition.

For the final 2-D project, printmaking, students will do some reduction printing ala Andy Warhol.   I did this with my printmaking class when I did my student teaching, and I have my example hanging on a bulletin board in the high school art room that students were admiring and mentioned they wanted to do (I hung up some of my artwork from the past, both high school and college, so that students could see what I am capable of).  So, I'll have students bring in a popular object to turn into a multi-colored print.

This unit will also introduce art criticism to the students.  That was originally what I was going to start with, but I was tired of doing the note thing, and so were the students.  I prefer getting the boring stuff out of the way in the beginning, but I need to remember that the students don't think that way!